


To The Future And Back

by Kookykrumbs



Series: Fate Binds Us - Missing Scenes [11]
Category: Terminator (Movies), Terminator - All Media Types, Terminator Dark Fate, Terminator: Dark Fate
Genre: Anniversary, F/F, Grace and Dani married, Happy Ending, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24499879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kookykrumbs/pseuds/Kookykrumbs
Summary: Grace struggles to come up with ideas for her and Dani's first year wedding anniversary.
Relationships: Grace Harper & Dani Ramos, Grace Harper/Dani Ramos
Series: Fate Binds Us - Missing Scenes [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608526
Comments: 8
Kudos: 56





	To The Future And Back

** To The Future and Back **

**Author’s Notes:** I had a bit of time today and wanted to revisit my _Fate Binds Us_ world. Here’s a bit of pure Grace/Dani fluff. This takes place about a year after my last instalment, _A Window To The Past_. Enjoy!

**Aurora, Colorado 2023**

Grace took a last bite from the leftover enchilada her wife, Dani made the night before. She stared at the clock on the far wall that read 12:48pm. There was a little over four hours before Dani got off work. Grace ran a frustrated hand through her already disheveled hair. Today was their one-year wedding anniversary. And she couldn’t think of a thing to do to celebrate it. She’d been fretting about it for almost a week and still she couldn’t think of anything. Now, in fairness to her, there wasn’t much you could do to celebrate anything in the future she came from. But she’d been living in the past now for the last three years. This shouldn’t be so hard.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door bursting wide open. “What’s for breakfast, amiga?” Sarah Connor asked, walking straight to the kitchen.

“You do realize it’s almost 1 o’clock in the afternoon, right?” Grace said, drolly, watching her housemate unapologetically raid her and Dani’s kitchen.

Sarah stopped digging through the cupboards, straightened herself and stared at Grace. “What’s your point?” Sarah looked genuinely confused.

Grace couldn’t help but smile in amusement. Same old Sarah. She would never change…. Grace would never admit it, but she wouldn’t want her to. Sarah gave her an _oookay there_ look before she turned around and continued her rummaging. 

Since Judgment Day never came to pass, Grace, Dani and Sarah settled into a relatively normal life, or as normal as it could get for them, anyway. They still kept an eye out on things, especially in the tech sector, but in the last year or so, there’s been nothing to indicate they needed to step in and take any kind of action. 

As comfortable as they were with the funds Carl had left for them, Grace and Dani still ended up getting jobs. Grace had just finished all her hours in her electrical apprenticeship and was now working as an electrician for a kindly old man running a sole proprietorship business. As for Dani, Grace insisted she find work in which she wasn’t overly visible to the public. 

Grace and Sarah agreed that the odds of another terminator being sent to assassinate Dani was quite remote considering Judgement Day never came to pass. Still, when it came to Dani’s safety, Grace didn’t want to take anything for granted. And so, Dani found work at a call centre for a financial institution answering credit card inquiries. It wasn’t the most exciting job, but it paid decently and came with great benefits. With Sarah’s connections, they were able to come up with believable new identities easily enough. As for Sarah, she continued to monitor government activities as well as tech companies. She was ever vigilant, and Grace couldn’t blame her one bit.

“No work today?” Sarah said, taking a seat in front of Grace, having settled on a big bag of Ruffles potato chips for _breakfast_.

“Work’s a bit slow these days. Mr. Dosanjh gave me the day off,” Grace answered.

“Why do you look troubled?” Sarah asked.

Grace sighed. “Today’s my one-year wedding anniversary and -”

“Say no more! You have no idea what to do, do you?” Sarah asked while munching on her chips. “Can’t say I blame you for your lack of imagination. It’s not like there was much to do where you came from.”

“Precisely. Any tips for me?”

“You know Dani’s pretty low maintenance, right? Some flowers, dinner and a movie and she’d be happy as a clam,” Sarah said, matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, I know. But I want to give her more than that.”

“Why don’t you try looking online for some ideas? You’ve heard of Pinterest, right?” Sarah asked.

“Of course. And I’ve looked up some ideas. Some sites have suggested cooking a nice dinner, but anything I’d cook would pale in comparison to what Dani can make. And another idea was to take her dancing, but I suck at it. I’m just all arms and legs. Some suggested a romantic stroll along somewhere, but we’re always going for walks and it’s nothing new. If I bought Dani something really extravagant then she’d just get annoyed at me for wasting money. It’s not like I can make her anything, I’m terrible at art. I can’t even draw a decent stick man. I don’t know…” Grace slumped in her chair, feeling dejected.

“Well, I think there’s your problem, Harper. You’re trying too hard to impress Dani when there’s no need to. She loves you, she just wants to be with you. Instead of trying to impress her by trying to come up with something incredibly elaborate and creative, why don’t you try doing something that would show her how much she means to you? If it happens to be creative then that’s just icing on the cake,” Sarah said, shrugging.

“You think I’m approaching this from the wrong angle?” Grace asked, now thinking of this whole thing tactically. 

“Not the wrong angle, but just from one angle…. Tell me something, Harper…. When you think of Dani, what comes to mind?” 

“That’s easy. She’s everything to me. She saved me, gave me hope, gave me a home. She loved me when I didn’t think love even existed in the world anymore…” Grace realized she must’ve had a wistful look on her face. She quickly straightened up and put on a serious face again.

“Hmmm…. Stick with those thoughts, I’m sure you’ll come up with something,” Sarah said, getting up and grabbing a beer before heading back to her part of the house. 

“Hey! Where are you going?” Grace asked, miffed that Sarah hadn’t actually given her any concrete suggestions.

“I’m going to miss reruns of Three’s Company. Besides, I have complete and utter faith in you. You’ll think of something,” Sarah said chuckling as she left the room. 

Grace groaned in frustration. After a few minutes, she got up and grabbed some dog food for their little Lakeland Terrier, affectionately named Fajita. She took some dog food and a bowl of water and placed it next to the napping dog. She then started making her way to the kitchen to wash the dishes when she paused in her tracks. Damn, Sarah actually triggered an idea in her. Grace went back to the living room, opened her laptop and did some digging.

**An hour later**

Dani heard a beep on her cell phone indicating there was a text message for her. She quickly reached for her purse knowing it was Grace. She’d been a bit worried all morning since her wife hadn’t texted her at all. Grace had seemed a bit distracted as well when she’d left the house that morning. Come to think of it, she’d seemed distracted for the last few days. Scary thoughts started invading Dani’s mind. Was Grace not feeling well and just wouldn’t tell her? Her wife’s augmentation and the potential medical complications that came with it was a constant worry for Dani.

She slipped out of the office as no cell phones were allowed on the floor. The moment she was in the hallway, she read the message. 

_Come straight home after work. Look inside in the cover of your favorite book. Love you._

Dani frowned. Well… that was kind of cryptic. Grace always picked her up from work. In fact, she insisted on it. It became a point of contention between the two of them at times, the fact that Grace still insisted on being her bodyguard. But Dani loved spending time with her, so she often didn’t object very much. Perhaps this was progress. Dani looked at her watch and knew there was no time to call Grace and see what was going on. Her boss would be wondering why she was away from her desk for so long. 

**4 hours later**

“Grace? Are you home?” Dani called out upon entering the house. She was greeted by an excited little Fajita jumping up and down wanting to be petted. 

“Just me, kiddo!” Sarah’s voice came from downstairs. 

Dani nuzzled her little dog then patted his rump sending him off to play. “Hey Sarah, we have leftovers from last night, come join us for dinner.”

“I’ve already helped myself. Besides, I don’t think you’ll be having dinner here tonight,” Sarah yelled back.

Where would she be having dinner if not at home? It was a Thursday night. She and Grace usually went out Friday nights. She shrugged wondering if Sarah had a bit to drink this evening. Dani then quickly remembered her wife’s instructions and so she went straight to the bookshelf and pulled out a copy of Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind. Tucked inside it was a note. In Grace’s familiar handwriting, she read:

_You’re beautiful and bright. Find your next hint where we made love last night._

She was looking for a hint? Dani was really curious and wondered why Grace was playing this game with her. Grace wasn’t the type to engage in an indirect approach when it came to anything. Dani stared at the couch where they made love the night before. She could feel her cheeks heating up at the memory of it. She looked around and saw a small box tucked between cushions on the couch. She quickly unwrapped it and saw two beautiful sapphire and diamond drop earrings inside. Dani gasped. They were gorgeous, and no doubt expensive. There was a note inside as well.

_Spending time with you is my favorite, I hope you know. I especially love when we binge-watch our favorite show._

Dani was stumped for a moment. They watched so many shows together she wasn’t really quite sure what _their_ favorite was. But after a few seconds, Dani smiled. They did have one favorite show they loved above all others. She quickly went to their entertainment system and grabbed the DVD box of I Love Lucy. Sure enough, when she opened it, the DVDs weren’t inside. Instead, there was another slim box inside. Dani opened it to find the most beautiful necklace she’d ever seen. It was a pearl and diamond pendant necklace. She’d been admiring it a few months before at a jewellery shop in the mall. She didn’t even realize Grace had noticed her looking. But then again, it was Grace. She noticed everything about her. There was a note in the DVD box as well.

_Roses are red, violets are blue, go to our bedroom to see what I have for you._

Dani smiled, touched at the effort Grace had put in. She found herself incredibly excited what this last thing would be. She raced up the stairs to their bedroom. She threw the door open and stopped in her tracks when she saw a gorgeous navy blue knit crêpe v-neck gown. Her wife had obviously been busy while she was away. Dani didn’t need to check the size, she had no doubt Grace knew exactly what to purchase. There was a note pinned to the tag of her dress.

_You are so lovely, what a sight to see. Go get dressed for our first anniversary. Meet me at The Social. 1 Old Town Square #7, Fort Collins. 7pm. Love you._

Shit! Their anniversary! Dani had completely forgotten. She’d been so worried about Grace’s seeming distraction the last few days it had slipped her mind. She had nothing for her! Dani felt awful. She looked at her watch. It was a couple of minutes shy of 5:30pm. She looked at the address again. Fort Collins?! That was at least an hour and a half away. Why in the world would Grace pick a place all the way out there? There were plenty of nice places in their area. Now Dani had no time to find a gift for Grace. 

Dani sighed and decided she had to come clean and admit she forgot their anniversary – and their first one no less. Besides, if she tried to grab a last-minute gift, Grace would see right through it, although she would never call her out on it. But anyway, Grace deserved something far better than a desperate thoughtless present. She’d have to admit to forgetting and make it up to her another time. Dani quickly put on the dress, her earrings and necklace. She picked the highest stilettos she had and made her way out.

**7pm**

Dani’s GPS led her to Old Town Square. It was a nice shopping centre in Fort Collins. She saw an empty parking stall about twenty meters from the restaurant. She quickly took it before anyone else could. Grace’s vehicle was still at the house, she could only assume that she took a cab over. It wouldn’t make sense for them to go home separately. She made her way into the restaurant and her eyes immediately scanned for a familiar blonde head.

“Good evening, ma’am,” the handsome host said, smiling. “Welcome to the Social.”

“Thank you, yes, I’m looking for my wife, I think she had reservations for us. Her name is Grace.” Dani wondered if she just imagined the look of disappointment that crossed the host’s face. Most people were pretty accepting of her and Grace, and his look wasn’t exactly one of disapproval. 

“Oh, uhhh, yes, ma’am. We have a reservation for someone by that name for 6:45pm. The table is just right this way,” the gentleman said, smiling. 

Dani followed him further into the restaurant. They turned a corner, and there she was. She and Grace made eye contact immediately. She stood up at the table and Dani could see she definitely dressed up for the occasion. Grace was wearing gray, black-checked dress pants with a simple white buttoned up dress shirt and stylish black leather loafers. Dani let her eyes roam appreciatively letting Grace know how much she enjoyed the view. 

Dani stood on her toes and kissed Grace in greeting and then sat across from her. The host who’d led Dani to the table introduced himself as Ben and told them their server would be with them shortly. Dani and Grace both smiled and thanked him as he walked away back to the front of the restaurant. 

Grace reached out across the table and took her hands in hers. “You look gorgeous! I mean, I knew you would… but my God…. You take my breath away.”

“Well, you certainly have good taste in dresses, mí amor. This dress slims and enlarges all the right places,” Dani said, laughing.

“I doubt it’s the dress. You can’t improve upon perfection,” Grace said, smiling. 

Dani blushed. If anyone else paid her that compliment, she wouldn’t have believed them. But Grace never gave empty praises. She knew that Grace believed what she said. And Dani always felt beautiful because of it. 

“By the way, I’m scared to ask how much this gorgeous necklace and these earrings cost,” Dani said.

Grace laughed. “I know you said you don’t like me spending much money on you, but it makes me happy. And they look amazing on you.”

“Well, if you’re happy then I’m happy,” Dani said, smiling.

Dani and Grace spent the next three hours wining and dining, chatting about anything and everything under the sun. They laughed at how Sarah was always looking for breakfast well into the afternoon. They chatted about what would happen on the next episode of The X-Files. As old as the show was, they’d only started watching it a month ago. They were both pretty good at staying away from spoilers online. They reminisced about their wedding and their honeymoon. They talked a bit about politics, their next vacation, the next movie they wanted to watch. Dani couldn’t believe how fast time flew.

Dani looked around their table and Grace had ordered practically every single appetizer on the menu. Dani was feeling a tad tipsy from all the wine she’d had. But then again, she was also equally drunk on love. She had work early the next morning, but she couldn’t bring herself to call it a night just yet.

“I have a confession, Grace,” Dani said, giving her a sheepish look.

“What is it?”

“I totally forgot our anniversary, and I have nothing for you.” Dani knew she was blushing from embarrassment. 

Grace burst out laughing. “Oh my God, I thought your confession was something serious.”

“You’re not mad?” Dani asked.

“Of course, not. You’re too adorable for me to be angry at,” Grace said, grinning.

“Gee, don’t I feel sexy just now. That’s what I always tell Fajita when he chews on my shoes,” Dani joked. “Anyway, I’ll make it up to you… I promise. Besides, it’s kind of your fault I forgot.”

“Me?” Grace asked incredulously. “Care to explain?”

“Well, yeah! You seemed so distracted the last few days and you’ve been more quiet than usual, I got kind of scared that maybe… well, maybe you weren’t feeling so good, that maybe your augmentation…” Dani trailed off.

“Oh, honey, I’m sorry I worried you,” Grace said, looking genuinely contrite. “I swear, I’m fine. I just really wanted to have a perfect anniversary for you, I ended up stressing over it like it was a military campaign.”

Dani smiled. Well, at least she’d sleep well tonight. “Anyway, this is a beautiful restaurant you’ve chosen. But what made you think to pick a place in Fort Collins? There are hundreds of places we haven’t tried near our place.”

“True…. But this place is special.”

“Oh?” Dani asked, taking a sip of her wine. “Why?”

“This is where we met… or at least, where I first met you,” Grace said, a faraway look on her face.

“This restaurant?” Dani said, still unable to process that bit of information she’d just been told.

“In the future where I came from, this entire complex had been turned to ruins. It was a hollow structure, a shadow of what you see around you now. I was hiding at once from HKs as well as some scavengers looking for food. The scavengers had found me and were ready to kill me for the can of tuna and chocolate bar in my backpack. And that’s when you showed up, like an avenging angel.”

“Wow, Grace… I don’t know what to say.”

  
“You saved me that day, and not just in the obvious sense that you saved me from being killed and sharing the same fate as my father. You saved me from a life of hopelessness. You gave me a purpose. You gave me a home. But most of all, you made me believe in love again when I thought there was none left in the world,” Grace said, her eyes becoming moist, obviously overcome with emotion.

Dani was humbled and touched by what her wife just told her. “Grace, don’t you know you did the same for me?”

Grace scoffed. “Yeah, right. I turned your life upside down.”

“No! You turned my life right side up again,” Dani said, adamantly. “You saved me from certain death. You gave me the courage to keep going even after I’d lost my whole family. You brought love back into my life. And together, we’ve stopped Judgment Day.”

“Well, if you ask Sarah, she’d say we merely postponed it,” Grace said, wryly.

Dani shrugged. “Every family has that one cynical aunt. She’s ours.”

Grace laughed. That was so Sarah. “Thanks, Dani. I love you, you know. To the future and back.”

“Literally,” Dani said, laughing. “Come on, mí amor. I hate to be a kill joy, but we have to work early tomorrow morning. We should head home now.”

“I actually got the day off tomorrow,” Grace said. “And I’ve booked a room for us at the Cambria Hotel. I got the honeymoon suite for us…”

“You didn’t…” Dani was so torn. “Oh, but I just can’t not show up at work tomorrow, babe.”

“You’ve been working there for almost a year. Your boss loves you and you have never once called in sick. Please, Dani, for me.” Dani never could say no to Grace when she gave her those pleading, puppy dog eyes.

“Oh, very well! But we have to stay in the whole time. I can’t risk anyone seeing me playing hooky,” Dani said, laughing.

“Oh, I think I can think of a thing or two to do indoors,” Grace whispered suggestively. 

Dani wanted nothing more than to leave the restaurant right then and there and have her way with Grace at the hotel. She quickly flagged their server down and asked to settle up. As Grace paid their bill, Dani pulled out her cell phone.

“What are you doing, hon?” Grace asked.

“Just texting Sarah. I’m letting her know we won’t be home tonight and to keep an eye on Fajita. I also let her know where I put all the leftovers.”

“What’s the point? That woman can live off of Ruffles and booze for months,” Grace said, laughing.

“Be nice,” Dani admonished her wife half-heartedly. It was kind of true anyway.

Grace and Dani stood up and made their way outside the restaurant. Grace had spoken to the restaurant manager who was fine with them leaving their vehicle overnight while they took a cab to the hotel. Grace said she felt fine to drive after all that wine, but didn’t want to risk Dani’s safety in any way. As they were waiting for their cab outside, a beep came from Dani’s purse. She reached in and saw there was a text message from Sarah. 

_Yeah, I figured I wouldn’t be seeing you guys tonight. Did you have a good time, kiddo? Just remember, I gave Grace the idea for your anniversary. Don’t let her tell you otherwise._

“Is that Sarah?” Grace asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Dani said, quickly adjusting the angle of the phone so Grace wouldn’t see.

“What? Why’d you do that?”

“Do what?” Dani asked innocently.

“Turn your cell phone so I wouldn’t read your screen,” Grace said, drolly.

“You’re imagining things,” Dani said, rather unconvincingly.

“Oh? Then why won’t you let me see?”

Dani sighed. “Fine…. But remember, she’s probably counting on you demanding to see this,” Dani said as she reluctantly handed her phone over.

Grace took one second to read the message and said, “Oh, she didn’t! Dani, that’s not true. This was all my idea, she did nothing but -”

Dani quickly stood on her toes and pressed her lips against Grace’s to silence the blonde. “Mí amor, Sarah is like 80 miles away. You’re gonna let her get under your skin?” 

“Fine, you’re right…. But still. I came up with everything. All she did…”

Dani tuned out the rest of Grace’s rant and just laughed at how cute she was being so put out by Sarah trying to steal her thunder. Besides, she’d get her to forget about it soon enough when they got to their hotel.

_The End_

**Author’s Notes:** With all the things happening in the world right now, I thought I’d bring a little escapism in your lives in the form of a Grace/Dani fluff fic, even if it’s just a few minutes. I hope this brought a smile to you all. Stay safe out there.


End file.
